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Association of pro-inflammatory diet with frailty onset among adults with and without depressive symptoms: results from the Framingham Offspring Study
Inflammation caused by diet raises the odds of developing frailty. Individuals who suffer from depression may have elevated odds of developing frailty due to corresponding higher inflammation levels. In this prospective study by Millar et al. (2022), the authors examined the relationship between developing frailty and consuming a proinflammatory diet in the presence or absence of clinical symptoms of depression in a population of 1,701 participants (45% males, mean age 58 ± 8 years) who do not suffer from frailty as per baseline self-reported data (1998-2001). The participants had the following parameters evaluated using standardized tools: symptoms of depression (using CES-D: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression, where a score ≥16 defines the presence of substantial clinical depression), energy-adjust dietary inflammatory index (E-DIITM; using food frequency questionnaires), and frailty at follow-up (2011-2014, using the Fried frailty criteria, where ≥3 fulfilled the definition of frailty: weak grip strength, slow gait, low physical activity, unintentional weight loss, self-reported exhaustion). Analysis of the results revealed that clinically depressed patients experienced a 55% increase in the risk of frailty with every point increase in E-DII score, compared to a 14% increase in their peers who do not suffer from substantial clinical depression. Thus, the authors conclude that the impact of an inflammatory diet on the risk of frailty is more pronounced in individuals who suffer from substantial clinical depression, which raises the need for further studies to understand this association. [NPID: Aging, inflammation, nutrition, prospective cohort, wellbeing]
Year: 2022
